1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power distribution panel switch gear, a monitoring and control system, and an equipment diagnostic system relating to the same.
2. Prior Art
In a conventional atomic power plant, a system for operating various types of process devices, subject to commands from the main control panel, is constructed. For example, as described in the article “Instrumentation and Control, Automated IV, and the Control and Automation of Power Plants” disclosed in the July number of “Thermal and Atomic Power Generation-1993”, there are power plants equipped with a main control panel and a unit computer arranged in the central control room of the power plant, with an auxiliary-device sequence controller connected to the unit computer via a network, with an auxiliary-device interlocking relay panel connected to the auxiliary-device sequence controller, and with a power distribution panel switch gear connected to the auxiliary-device interlocking relay panel. In addition to a CPU for conducting sequential control, the auxiliary-device sequence controller has a digital output device for output of starting and stopping commands to auxiliary devices. The auxiliary-device interlocking relay panel has a process device protection circuit and a process device interlocking circuit, and these circuits consist of relays. The power distribution panel switch gear has various types of process devices, including a plurality of switches connected to, for example, motorized valves, pumps, and the like, opens and closes the switches in response to signals from the auxiliary-device interlocking relay panel, and supplies electric power to specified process devices. That is to say, when the relays within the auxiliary-device interlocking relay panel operate in response to the starting commands and other commands sent from the auxiliary-device sequence controller, only the specified switch of all switches arranged in or on the power distribution panel switch gear will close to supply power to the motorized valves and other devices.
In general, the network between the units in a system has a wired or wireless arrangement of network lines. A general-purpose LAN having a bus-type or ring-type connection form is present as an example of a wired network. Another example is a control LAN provided with a transmission protocol for ensuring faster and more highly reliable data transmission with respect to control equipment. An example of a wireless network is a star-type network using a GHz frequency band, such as the Bluetooth, a wireless LAN compliant with IEEE802.11, or an infrared-ray communication.